Suprisingly enough when the dominion of humankind over the earth ended it
wasn't with the much anticipated big bang and resultant nuclear winter,
and it wasn't the opening of a Hell mouth, in fact there were no more
demon's present now then there had been in the past. They were just more
open about being here. There were no heroic battles. Humankind lost not
with a bang but with a whimper, and now they willingly threw themselves
onto the fangs of their new masters.
And of course it all started with deadboy getting a happy. From what I
understand, some idiotic girl that Angel had been guarding slipped him a
drug, unfortunately when the drug wore off Angel was still minus a soul.
Since Angel was in the middle of LA at the time with no obsession/love of
a slayer to distract him, well the rest is history. He was able to dig
up some ancient spell and an artifact to make it unbreakable, and now
every human has to obey when a vampire gives a command. The
instantaneous bloodshed was rather unbelievable. No one was safe. The
only safety was in hiding, and the only freedom remaining was in your
mind. The humans are hunted and gathered and pretty much eaten right
away. The vampire hunger knows no boundaries, and unfortunately demons
don't practice conservation. The only outcome I see at the moment is the
extinction of the human race.
Yes this is me Xander the always happy go lucky kid that feels that there
is no hope left. I am the last of the Scooby gang. Giles, Willow, and
Buffy died right away. The demons knew where they lived and just ordered
them to invite them in. Anya is long gone. I have no idea where. I do
have hope that she is still alive. If anything else she is a survivor.
As to why I survived, well it was only chance, and the fact that I've
always had a bolt hole from my parents. See I wasn't in my house when
the demons came. All there was when I got home were blood and bodies. I
think they assumed I was one of them, because there hasn't been a
concerted effort to find me, that I know of. After my home I went to
Willow's dorm. She and Tara were there together. I won't detail the
state of there bodies. I went to Gile's house next where I found Buffy
and her watcher. I can't really bear to think of it even now, and then I
ran. I think I was in shock. Mostly I can't even remember what happened
next. I remember coming to in my bolt hole, which I stayed in until
hunger drove me out, again.
I have spent the last five years running and reading everything that I
could get my hands on. If you think I did research before well you have
no clue. Through sheer determination I have taught myself every language
dead and alive that I can. After a while it gets easier and all
languages start sounding alike, even the bizarre demon ones. At times I
don't feel as if Xander exists anymore. It's as if he were an innocent
dream.
I am writing this because this will be my last week on earth. Foolhearty
or not I have been working my way closer and closer to the ruler of this
world and his consort. If I can make any sort of difference it will be
here, but that was not to be. You see after all the running I have been
rounded up with the rest of the cattle, and I stand here awaiting the
end. I await it with a kind of numbness. After all I have felt like I
have been dead ever since I found Willow lying in a pool of blood. What
right had I to life, when everyone else was dead.
"So what kind of meat does the Master want?" One of our captors came
through studying us. He grabbed the chin of the man five down from me.
The man was a beautiful blonde. "He's real fine." They spoke in Igresh,
so I doubt if any of the other captives understood.
"Nah, not the Master's type. He like brunettes, both of his childer were
brunettes before The Consort started his blonde rebellion faze. Use him
for breeding, and bed stock. Try that one there." He pointed at me and
for all my numbness I felt my knees tremble a little. Well I was about
to get way to close. Rough blunt fingers grabbed my chin and tilted it
up. Another hand shoved my hair, which had grown way too long, out of my
face. "Oh yes," the vampire sighed "This one will do nicely."
The other vampire crowded up next to me. "We don't have to give him to
the Master? We could keep him."
I could feel the hard erection poking me in the side.
The first vampire swatted the second. "Don't even think like that! You
don't want to know what the Master would do to you." The first vampires
hand was trembling on my chin and he was visibly looking around to see if
they had been overheard. He roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me from
the holding pen.
And so I find myself standing in the middle of one of the richest rooms I
have ever been in. The last hour has consisted of me being cleaned and
primped to within an inch of my life. My hair which had been so tangled
I would have just chopped it all off was now swing freely down my back
and brushing against my biceps in a sleek layered cut. I had no shirt on
and only black almost see through pants. I'm sure deadboy will bust a
gut laughing when he realizes who it is. I had been given the command to
stay in this spot so my feet literally could not move. Sometimes I
wonder if they truly think about some of the orders they give before they
do, if they realize how word specific they are for us.
I look around the room and see the manacles hanging from the ceiling on
the one side. There are various implements that I really don't want to
know about lining the wall near them. The numbness is definitely gone,
and I wonder how long Angelus will keep me alive before he and Spike
drink my blood. The great doors in front of me swing open, and my heart
almost stops when the new ruler of the world and his consort walk
through.
With a sense of fatalism I open my mouth. "Hi, Deadboy long time no see.
I thought I'd stop by and see if you needed some help with the new digs.
You know maybe a stake bed or a shower with only holy water. I'm great
with interior decorating." Yep, I knew I should have kept it shut. I
watched as Angelus stumbled to a halt his mouth opened and shut like a
fish. Spike whose hand had been resting on Angelus' arm eyes widened.
The fingers were so white that I knew that if Angelus had been human he
would have a crushed arm. The human body just doesn't stand up to that
kind of pressure. I savored my moment of victory because I knew what
followed it would not be good. I saw Angelus lunge forward toward me and
my eyes shut instinctively. I waited for the pain to come.
What I felt were two cold arms coming around me from the front pulling me
up and cradling me against a hard chest. I opened my eyes in shock and
found myself staring into Angelus' glowing yellow ones. He lifted me
completely off my feet and all my weight settled against him. I felt two
other arms reach around me from behind. "I thought you were dead."
Mummbled Angelus into my neck.
Something within me snapped. All the pain and fear and rage came to the
surface in a second and I found myself pounding on Angelus with my fists
and kicking him with my dangling feet. "You killed them. You killed
them all." I thrashed around, anything to escape those iron arms, but he
just held me stilling my struggles while Spike petted my head from
behind. And I broke again, laying limply against his chest sobbing like
the lost child I had become. "You killed them all."
"Yes I did." Angelus answered. "I killed them all." but his gentle
soothing hand belied his rough words. He carried me over to the bed,
then handed me to Spike who cradled me as if I was the purest porcelain.
Mummuring soothing comfort in my ear as Angelus turn down the bed. Spike
placed me in the center of the bed his hands lingering a little before
they left. I looked at the two of them standing fuzzily over me, almost
as if they were concerned parents.
Then Angelus reached down and smoothed the hair back from my eyes and I
felt the tears begin to leak from the corners of my eyes again. "Sleep
Xander. Sleep." I felt the power of the command and my own weariness
rise up and overwhelm me.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Will he be alright." Spike asked worriedly.
"Eventually, we will ensure it."
"No offense Peaches, but you know more about tearing a mind apart then
putting it back together."
"Well if you had secured him in the first place this wouldn't have
happened."
"He wasn't there. I told you that before, at least the rest of those
Wankers are dead. Are we going to tell him?"
"That his friends that are dead and he loved were going to kill him,
hell no. One stupid prophecy that he would bring about the destruction
of humankind and they turn on him like dogs. Some good guys they were."
Angelus sneered.
"That Anya chick stood up for him."
"And they killed her for it." Angelus raged.
"Well the prophecy was true after all."
Angelus snorted "It came about because of them not because of him! If
they had never threatened him I would never have removed that threat."
"So what are we going to do with him? He didn't sound at all like Xanpet
at all." Spike ran his hand over the young man's brow.
Angelus put his hand on Spike's shoulder. "We'll love him."
"He hates us." Spike said flatly.
"Yes and he will for a long while. We'll have the witch in tomorrow and
she'll freeze his age at this point in time, and that will give us all
the time in the world to change his mind. We'll treat him with kindness,
accept his anger and eventually he'll believe the lies we tell."
Spike was shaking his head.
Angelus rounded on him. "What else do you want to do? He's safer with
us then out on the streets. I don't even want to think about what could
have happened to him out there. We will keep him here."
"I'm not fighting you on that Peaches, but I think Xander's a lot
stronger then you give him credit for. He can take the truth."
"But he doesn't have too. He won't even believe it."
Spike reached up and touched his Sires face. "It's the only way he can
really heal. We have the tapes."
"So he should live with the knowledge that how many people in the world
died because two vampires loved him too much to let him die. This is
Xander we're talking about. If they had asked he would have made the
sacrifice freely."
Spike sighed and nodded. "Then we don't tell him. It's going to be a
long time before he comes to us."
"We don't force him. I made that mistake with you Spike. We make him
live with us we touch him when he allows, but if we command him we'll
lose him."
"We do need to command him not to hurt us, or knowing Xander he'll find a
way to."
Angelus grinned in agreement. "He's a stubborn cuss. Think about it all
alone no special powers and he still managed to get this far. I'm going
to have to find out what his plan was too."
Spike Cheshire grinned in return. "We're gonna need a replacement snack
too."
"Later." Angelus advanced on the bed. "Now I just want to lie next to
him and listen to his heart."
Spike followed. "That's why I put him in the middle one side for each
Peaches."
He felt the bones crumble under the pressure he exerted on them. He
released his grip and watched the vampire fall limply to the ground, it's
back crushed beyond repair. It frantically tried to pull the dead weight
of its body away from him. Two strides brought him level with the torso
of the helpless creature. He watched it struggling for a second with an
almost scientific detachment. Then he crouched pining the vampire with
one knee to the small of it's back. It wiggled under him, and he stroked
up its back, running his hand along the curve of its spine until he
caught the back of its head. It desperately tried to bite him and he
chuckled at it while tightening his hand in it's hair.
"Please. Please don't do this." It begged.
He didn't say anything. He just ran his fingers through the vampires
short hair, using the pressure of his hand to keep it still. His fingers
tightened in the creatures hair pulling its head back and smashing it
into the pavement. He pulled it back and slammed it forward again. The
vampire mewled in distress, jerking in an uncoordinated fashion. He
easily flipped the vampire over onto its back, running his hands up and
down it chest. Then he slid a knife out of his boot and began retracing
the path of his hands with the tip of his blade. "Why are you doing
this?" Gasped the vampire. "What do you want?" He slid the blade up
along the neck and across its cheek slitting the skin every few inches,
then smearing the blood with his other hand. He brought the blood up to
his nose and sniffed. No, this was not the blood of the one who killed
his mate. It did not matter though this one would scream as loud as the
guilty one anyway. He shoved the knife deep into the vampire shoulder it
arched off the ground screaming.
Footstep sounded to the left of him. He jerked the knife out in a
twisting motion eliciting another scream from the vampire. In one smooth
continuous motion he rose and spun bringing his blade up to defend
himself, and then froze as he registered an ally not a foe. An ally
because he not longer had any friends. "Common Oz we don't have time for
you to play with them just dust the bastard and we'll go." Riley that
was this ones name. He crouched and quickly shoved a stake into the
vampire's chest. It exploded into dust.
"He wasn't the one anyway."
"Sign language Oz. If you don't look at me or say it in sign language i
can't hear you. we all can't be werewolves you know."
Oz turned toward the impatient commando. *Did you retrieve the victims?*
He signed.
"Yeah you'll have to talk to them though. None of them know sign
language."
Oz just nodded. Soon he told himself. Soon he would find the ones who
killed his mate. Soon he would kill the Traitor.
--------
Somewhere outside of his soporific consciousness came a soft voice.
..."Wake when you have slept yourself out, Xander." ...
--------
Much later Xander found himself rising up out of a slumberous warmth. He
felt an unaccustomed softness supporting the length of his body. A
comforting lassitude had invaded all of his limbs weighing them down,
keeping him in a limbo state between waking and sleeping with no movement
toward the resolution of either. Underneath it all was a thread of
confusion. Something was different. Something he had not ever experienced
before, and a corner of his mind was gnawing the problem over. The
difference drew him inexorably closer to the moment of waking and the
world grew more defined around him. The idea, that almost reached
epiphany receded into the background supplanted by impressions of the
world around him. The softness of the pillow against his face and the
heaviness of the coverlet over him all drove the nebulous beginnings of
the idea further from his grasp. He gave it up luxuriating instead in the
rare but welcome treat of a real bed.
The warm scent of rich beef teased his nose and he stretched flexing the
residual weariness out of his muscles. The strangeness of the situation
finally registered on his senses, and with it came the memory of where he
was. His eyes popped open in shock, and he struggled up under the weight
of the comforter. How could a blanket weigh so much? Strong cool hands
caught his shoulders pulling him forward. He looked up into the steel
blue eyes of Spike.
"Don't Struggle luv." Spike rested my suddenly limp body against his,
while he propped up the pillows behind me.
I was deeply confused. I had braced myself for death. I was prepared
for violence. I wasn't prepared for the tenderness with which Sipke was
holding me. "Why am I still alive? What are you up to?" I could
plainly hear the suspicion and confusion in my voice.
Instead of answering Spike pulled the covers back up to my waist, and
gently pushed me into the pillows. He left my side to a small
kitchenette. I watched with baffled amazement as he bustled around
retrieving various components of a simple meal. For a second my heart
contracted with grief, back before this all began He used to do this. I
know, I know. Totally out of character for the Big Bad, but he would.
He seemed to know somehow when things had gotten too hard to bear, and he
would do something little like this, something that made me think he
cared. That's why it hurt so much when he just up and disappeared one
day. He was there in the morning and gone after I came home. Silly me I
even searched for him. I was worried something had happened to him. At
one point I considered storming the initiative's bunker, but Buffy told
me that they didn't have him. And now I was lying on the bed of the
demon who had been responsible for the deaths of all my friends while he
fixed me lunch. The weirdness had definitely shot off the scale with this
one.
"Here you go pet. The doctor said you wouldn't be up to much food yet so
eat slow, and you'll get better."
"I'm sick?" I heard myself asking. I didn't feel sick just so very
tired. It was hard to keep my eyes open.
I blinked as a cool hand came up and brushed a long curl behind my ear.
"No, luv. The doc says you're exhausted, dehydrated, and half starved
but you'll get better." He brought the cup of beef broth I had been
ignoring up to my mouth.
I wrapped my fingers around it, trying to put some order into my
thoughts. My fingers brushed his cool ones but he didn't relinquish the
cup. Instead held it steady for me. I tried holding it away, needing
information more then sustenance. My whole belief system had been
knocked askew because of their reaction to me. "Why, Spike?"
"Listen, pet. First you eat then we'll talk." I looked at him for a
moment, and then nodded. I didn't have the energy to fight him. I
opened my mouth and let the warmth flow over my lips and into my stomach.
It seemed to settle there like a heating pad, such delicious warmth. I
couldn't remember the last time I had eaten something warm. My eyelids
grew heavier as I struggled to keep them open. Couldn't sleep. Needed
something. What? No. Why. Needed to know Why. I forced my eyes open.
"Why Spike?" I stared at him hovering over me.
His eyes slid away from mine for a moment. He isn't going to answer I
thought. "It was an accident, pet."
I just stared at him as my mind struggled to make sense of what he had
just said. The room blurred slightly. I opened my mouth but nothing
seemed to come out.
He eyebrows drew together. "Sleep, Xander." The command laid heavy upon
me. "Angelus and I will take care of everything." The blackness covered
my eyes and I felt something cool and moist brush against my forehead.
Before I slid beneath the blackness it flashed through my brain. Spike
kissed me, and it wasn't a kiss of lust. It was a kiss of comfort and
tenderness. Spike kissed me.
There were five people in the group before him. Mostly skin and bones, with
big haunted eyes and almost bloodless skin. They would slow them down. He
growled deep in his throat.
"We can't leave them here." Riley commanded.
Oz' dead gaze swung back to meet Riley's. The commando faltered under the
weight of the fury in those eyes.
Oz snorted in disgust, and swung his head back to the people in front of
him. "We saved your lives. You have two choices. Come with us or be left
to your fates. If you choose to come with us then you will have to deafen
yourselves, so that you can't be used against us. Make your choice." Oz met
the eyes of the new people in a subtle show of dominance, each weakened
before his inhuman glare.
One of the more belligerent spoke up. "You aren't deaf."
Oz met his gaze until it too wavered. "I'm not human." A wealth of contempt
colored his tone of voice.
No one was brave or foolhardy enough to ask him what he was.
"We're wasting time." Oz signed to Riley.
"We're not going to leave them here to be drained!" Riley signed back
angrily. "Whatever Willow left us will still be there when we get there.
If she left us anything. Oz you have to face the fact that there might not
be anything. If there is it might not even be useful in our fight. I know
you might not believe it, but I...I mean we just got you back. We don't
want to lose you again."
Oz's pacing stopped for a moment. "I don't matter. You don't matter.
Nothing matters but destroying those who took our world."
"No!" Riley's signing grew emphatic, his eyes had narrowed to small slits.
"We are not going to be reduced to a mere force for revenge. We are
fighting to save humankind, to save the innocents. Just like Buffy, and
Giles, and Tara, and Willow did before."
"And look where it got them." Oz signed in return.
"I don't care. we have to do this for the right reasons."
Oz stared into Riley's eyes trying to exert his dominance over the young
man.
Riley met him stare for stare not backing down.
Oz snorted. "You can turn this into a holy crusade if you want, but for me
it is about killing those who took my mate, and I will destroy all who get
in my way."
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
When Xander awoke this time it was with the knowledge of where he was and
what awaited him firmly in mind, but what he wasn't prepared for was the
weakness his body was exhibiting. He opened his eyes to find himself staring
into the sleeping face of Angelus. It was enough to make his blood run
cold. No matter how much he tried to assure himself that neither of them
had tried to hurt him; he could not really believe that they wouldn't.
Angelus liked to
play games, and he was probably was delighted to find one of the Scooby gang
left alive to torment.
He lay very still, his body tense and rigid. A cool hand ran down his
shoulder from behind and he jumped in response.
"Easy luv. We won't hurt you." The hand continued to stroke down his
shoulder and back up. Xander held himself rigid rejecting the caress the
only way left to him, through passivity. "I know. You can't believe that
yet but it is the truth. We had thousands of vampires out there looking for
you. Now that we have you again, we wouldn't do anything to hurt you."
Xander shook his head.
The cold hand pulled him implacably over onto his back, and Spike smiled
down at him with a sad twist to his lips. "Don't you believe me luv."
Xander looked up at him hopelessly.
"We could account for everyone but you, Oz, and that bloody Riley."
"Anya?" Xander whimpered out.
Spike's hand came up and soothed the hair off of Xander forehead. "She
didn't make it pet."
"Noooooo! She did! I couldn't find her body. I saw everyone else. She
has to be still alive. You're wrong Spike. She wasn't like the rest. She
wouldn't deliberately put herself in danger. She has to have made it
Spike." Xander's hand were holding onto Spike frantically almost trying to
shake him.
Spike remained calm crooning to the man.
Xander felt strong cool arms wrap around him from behind, pinning him back
to a hard muscular body.
"Shhh, Xander. Everything is going to be all right. I want you to calm
down."
Xander felt an eerie calm descend over him. His feeling evened out like a
placid lake.
The voice continued to talk to him. "Good boy. You listen very well."
"Have no choice." mumbled Xander petulantly.
"I know." Xander could feel the grin stretch against the back of his neck.
"I'm not going to make a habit of it either, but the doctor doesn't want you
upset right now. Later on when you're feeling better you can yell at us all
you want, but not until after the doctor takes you off the invalid list."
"I'm not sick!"
"Well according to the doctor you are. At the very least you're
malnourished and exhausted. Your bodyweight is way too low, and there is
the possibility that you may have picked up some parasites from being
exposed to such a poor diet. He's doing blood work to check for any
anomolies. Until you get a clean bill of health you will remain calm and in
bed. Spike and I will take care of you."
Xander refused to acknowledge him.
"Come on Xander, think about it." Angelus pulled Xander over onto his back,
brushing the sweaty hair out of his face. "Think about it you have the
Ruler of the known world waiting on you hand and foot. What could be so bad
about that."
Xander glared at him briefly before snorting. Yeah he thought to himself
like I want to pay the bill for that one. He averted his eyes from Angelus
and stared at the ceiling.
He heard a soft giggle to his right. Spike. Why the hell was he laughing?
The curiosity was too much for Xander. He found himself looking at Spike
who was too busy staring at his frustrated Sire. Xander's lips curved
slightly before he straightened them out. Dammint. He thought to himself.
I miss Spike as much as I miss any of the Scooby gang. How is that
possible? He's responsible for their deaths. Despite the enforced calm he
felt the tears begin to leak from the corners of his eyes. He felt so
perfectly miserable. The last time he had cried had been five years ago
after he had found their bodies. He had thought that he wasn't capable of
crying anymore, but now it seemed like he cried at everything.
Cold hard arms engulfed him. Spike he thought. He opened blurry eyes to
find Angelus looking down at him, crooning to him softly. "I can't stop
crying!" He found himself blurting out. "I just can't stop."
Angelus rubbed his back, and Spike had crowded up against his back. "That's
because it's safe now pet. You can grieve now that you know nothing can
hurt you."
Xander shook his head stubbornly, but at the same time he burrowed deeper
into Angelus' arms.
Angelus pushed him back slightly "It is safe." He said simply. "Nothing
will ever hurt you again, including us. Listen to me Xander. You can't be
getting upset like this. It's not good for you. I want you to go to
sleep."
Xander felt a wave of weariness rise up over him. "Don' wanna." He mumbled
as it pulled him under.
Spike exploded up off the bed. "God damn Fucking Hell!" He yelled as he
slammed his hand into the wall causing the plaster to explode inward.
Angelus just watched as he continued to rub the sleeping boy's back.
Spike came back to stand at the foot of the bed. He looked at Angelus
miserably. "What did they do to him? What happened that he's this broken."
Angelus shook his head. "I don't know Spike." He growled softly. "It
could have been anything. It could have been the deaths of his friends. It
could have been the five years of chaos since then. It doesn't really
matter. I told you it would be difficult. He isn't a vampire. Humans
break much easier then vampires but then they can also be fixed they're much
more flexible. Unlike vampires they can gradually forget the bad stuff. We
will just continue to be there for him until he's well. What you're doing
will NOT help."
"I want my Nummy back." Spike said sulkily.
Angelus rolled his eyes. "Go get a snack. Calm yourself and then come back.
Whatever you do you will not behave like that in his presence. Do you
understand me!"
Spike glared at him for a moment before dropping his eyes. "i'm sorry. I
wasn't thinking."
Angelus relaxed. "Yes you were. You waited till he fell asleep." Angelus
looked down at the boy, then slid the sleeping youth off him. He got up and
gathered Spike into his arms. "This isn't going to be easy. We're going to
get angry and frustrated, but not in front of Xander. If you need to we'll
go to the play room."
"You're not taking Xander there!" Spike growled deeply.
Angelus shook him. "Modulate your tone Childe."
"No you WON'T take him there." He said pulling away completely to stare down
at the youth.
Angelus sighed sadly. "No I won't. I never planned on it. It would be
selfish, and it might hurt him irrevocably." Angelus slipped behind his
childe wrapping his arms around him. They both stood staring down at the
bed. Angelus' chin came to rest on Spike's head, as he purred comfortingly
to his childe.
****
TBC
